Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco) formally introduced a new bill in Congress on Thursday that would seek to make involuntary, or “revenge” pornography, a federal crime, punishable with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Whoever knowingly uses the mail, any interactive computer service or electronic communication service or electronic communication system of interstate commerce, or any other facility of interstate or foreign commerce to distribute a visual depiction of a person who is identifiable from the image itself or information displayed in connection with the image and who is engaging in sexually explicit conduct, or of the naked genitals or post-pubescent female nipple of a person, with reckless disregard for the person’s lack of consent to the distribution, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

Until now, there has been no such federal bill introduced—but 34 states, including California, have already created similar legislation.

Further Reading

California creates a guide for victims to get their images off the Web.

“Technology today makes it possible to destroy a person’s life with the click of a button or a tap on a cell phone,” Speier said in a statement. “That is all anyone needs to broadcast another person’s private images without their consent. The damage caused by these attacks can crush careers, tear apart families, and, in the worst cases, has led to suicide.”

California creates a guide for victims to get their images off the Web.

Representatives from Twitter and Facebook have also publicly supported the bill, which has been co-sponsored by Republican lawmakers from Florida and Pennsylvania.